you had a chance to sit down with specialist alex rodriguez. >> reporter: that's right, frank. we got the honor to sit down with the veteran who told us that he joined to serve his country like others before him. in return, he also gave us the gift of freedom. >> . >> [ music ]. >> reporter: alex rodriguez, musician by talent, computer whiz by hobby, american hero by profession. >> i like to do what nobody has done. kind of like a challenge. >> reporter: rodriguez joined the army 7 years ago, and in 2010, was deployed to camp clark in afghanistan. . first week there, a bomb exploded near camp. >> at the moment, your mind goes all over. you don't really know what's zing on. you're kind of like watching a movie. >> reporter: there were more days like that for rodriguez. he said, as soldiers, targeted a lot. >> you're thinking today's my day. >> reporter: one of the most dangerous tasks, rodriguez escorted disposal teams inspecting suspicious devices. his team suffered a major loss when one of their own, specialist john walsh was killed after a rocket exploded near the base. >> yo